NEW GUINEA AND THE PAPUANS 
393 
of land birds have been discovered, and they comprise a 
larger proportion of beautiful and gorgeously coloured 
species than are to be found in any other country. 
About forty species of birds-of-paradise are now known, 
and an immense variety of kingfishers, parrots, and 
pigeons, including the most beautiful and remarkable of 
their respective families. About forty genera of land- 
birds are exclusively Papuan, as are considerably more 
than 3 0 0 of the species; and we may be sure that the 
great mountain ranges still contain many treasures 
for the ornithologist. The birds-of-paradise are without 
doubt the chief feature of the Papuan ornis. With the 
sole exception of Wallace’s Standard-wing (, Semioptera 
wallacei ), which occurs in the Moluccas, no species is 
found except in New Guinea and its islands. Although 
differing considerably from each other in form, all have 
one characteristic in common—the development of 
abnormal plumage of striking form and brilliant colouring. 
Thus in Paradisea we find magnificent sub-alar plumes 
of great length, and in colour ranging from deep red to 
lemon yellow, according to the species. Parotia has stiff 
and wire-like barbs, terminated by a spatulate expansion, 
springing from above the eye, and tufts of metallic silver 
at the forehead and occiput. In Epimachus the tail is of 
extraordinary length, and large curved plumes of the 
richest violet stand out above the thigh. Still more 
curious are some species of Diphyllodes , with the two 
middle feathers of the tail prolonged and coiled like a 
watch-spring. In Lophorhina a fan of velvet-black 
feathers springs from the occiput and reaches beyond the 
tail, while the breast is adorned with a pointed shield of 
metallic emerald green; and the brilliant red king-bird 
(Cicinnurus ) has delicate shoulder-tufts and the disc¬ 
shaped ends of the tail decorated with the same vivid 
